WO2018105158A1

WO2018105158A1 - Device and method for relay selection

Info

Publication number: WO2018105158A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/023508
Authority: WO
Inventors: 太一大辻
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2016-12-08
Filing date: 2017-06-27
Publication date: 2018-06-14
Also published as: US11122493B2; US20200008127A1; JP6933225B2; JPWO2018105158A1

Abstract

A relay terminal (2) transmits selection assistance information to a remote terminal (1). The selection assistance information includes a first information element transmitted from a base station (3) and received by the relay terminal (2). The first information element indicates at least one among: the frequency band of the base station (3); the system band width thereof; the downlink transmission power thereof; UL/DL configuration; the number of cells to be provided to the relay terminal; the classes of cells; RAT or a communication method to be used between the base station (3) and the relay terminal (2); and the name or identifier of a mobile operator that provides the base station. This can, for example, contribute to improving appropriateness of relay selection.

Description

Apparatus and method for relay selection

This disclosure relates to direct communication between devices (device-to-device (D2D) communication), and more particularly to selection of a relay terminal.

In some implementations, a wireless terminal is configured to be able to communicate directly with other wireless terminals. Such communication is called device-to-device (D2D) communication. D2D communication includes at least one of direct communication and direct discovery. In some implementations, a plurality of wireless terminals that support D2D communication form a D2D communication group autonomously or according to a network instruction, and communicate with other wireless terminals in the D2D communication group.

Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 12 specifies Proximity-based services (ProSe) (see Non-Patent Document 1, for example). ProSe includes ProSe discovery (ProSe discovery) and ProSe direct communication. ProSe discovery enables the detection of proximity of wireless terminals (in proximity). ProSe discovery includes direct discovery (ProSe Direct Discovery) and network level discovery (EPC-level ProSe Discovery).

ProSe direct discovery is a wireless communication technology (for example, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E) where a wireless terminal capable of executing ProSe (ProSe-enabled User Equipment (UE)) has two other ProSe-enabled UEs. -UTRA) It is performed by the procedure to discover using only the ability of (technology). On the other hand, in EPC-level ProSe Discovery, the core network (Evolved Packet Packet Core (EPC)) determines the proximity of two ProSe-enabled UEs and informs these UEs of this. ProSe direct discovery may be performed by more than two ProSe-enabled UEs.

ProSe direct communication enables establishment of a communication path between two or more ProSe-enabled UEs existing in the direct communication range after the ProSe discovery procedure. In other words, ProSe-direct communication is directly connected to other ProSe-enabled UEs without going through the public land mobile communication network (Public Land Mobile Mobile Network (PLMN)) including the base station (eNodeB). Allows to communicate. ProSe direct communication may be performed using the same wireless communication technology (E-UTRA technology) as that used to access the base station (eNodeB), or non-3GPP wireless technology, such as wireless local area network (WLAN) It may be performed using wireless technology (ie, IEEE 802.11 radio technology) or Bluetooth® wireless technology.

ProSe direct discovery and ProSe direct communication are performed at the direct interface between UEs. The direct interface is called a PC5 interface or sidelink. That is, ProSe direct discovery and ProSe direct communication are examples of D2D communication. Note that D2D communication can also be called side link communication, and can also be called peer-to-peer communication.

In 3GPP Release 12, ProSe function communicates with ProSe-enabled UE via the public land mobile communication network (PLMN) to support ProSe discovery and ProSe direct communication (assist). ProSe function is a logical function used for operations related to PLMN necessary for ProSe. The functionality provided by ProSe function is, for example, (a) communication with third-party applications (ProSe Application Server), (b) UE authentication for ProSe discovery and ProSe direct communication, (c) ProSe Including transmission of setting information (for example, EPC-ProSe-User ID) for discovery and ProSe direct communication to the UE, and (d) provision of network level discovery (ie, EPC-level ProSe discovery). ProSe function may be implemented in one or more network nodes or entities. In this specification, one or a plurality of network nodes or entities that execute a ProSe function are referred to as “ProSe function functions” or “ProSe function servers”.

Further, 3GPP Release 12 specifies a partial coverage scenario in which one UE is outside the network coverage and the other UE is within the network coverage (for example, Sections 4.4.3 and 4.5 of Non-Patent Document 1). See 4 and 5.4.4). In the partial coverage scenario, UEs that are out of coverage are called remote UEs, and UEs that are in coverage and relay between remote UEs and networks are called ProSe UE-to-Network Relays. ProSe UE-to-Network Relay relays traffic (downlink and uplink) between remote UE and network (E-UTRA network (E-UTRAN) and EPC).

More specifically, ProSe UE-to-Network Relay attaches to the network as a UE, establishes a PDN connection to communicate with a ProSe function 又は entity or other packet Data Network (PDN), and performs ProSe direct communication. Communicate with the ProSe function entity to get started. ProSe UE-to-Network Relay further performs a discovery procedure with remote UE, communicates with remote UE on the direct inter-UE interface (eg, side link or PC5 interface), and between remote UE and network To relay traffic (downlink and uplink). When Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is used, ProSe UE-to-Network Relay operates as Dynamic Host Configuration Configuration Protocol Version 4 (DHCPv4) Server and Network Address Translation (NAT). When IPv6 is used, ProSe UE-to-Network Relay operates as stateless DHCPv6 Relay Agent.

Furthermore, the extension of ProSe is discussed in 3GPP Release 13 and Release 14 (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 2-8). The discussion includes a discussion on relay selection criteria for selecting ProSe UE-to-Network Relay and ProSe UE-to-UE Relay, and a relay selection procedure including placement of relay selection. Here, ProSe UE-to-UE Relay is a UE that relays traffic between two remote UEs.

Regarding the relay selection arrangement of UE-to-Network Relay, the distributed relay selection architecture (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3-5, 7, and 8) in which the remote UE performs relay selection, and the base station ( A centralized relay selection architecture (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 6 and 7) in which elements in a network such as eNodeB (eNB)) perform relay selection has been proposed. Regarding the UE-to-Network Relay selection criteria, consider the D2D link quality between the remote UE and the relay UE, the backhaul link quality between the relay UE and the eNB, and the D2D link quality and It has been proposed to consider both backhaul link quality (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3-8).

For example, Non-Patent Document 3-5 describes that both the D2D link quality and the backhaul link quality are considered in distributed relay selection. In one example, the remote UE considers both D2D link quality and backhaul link quality using the evaluation formula w * D2D link quality + (1-w) * backhaul link quality, where w is preset It is a constant (see Non-Patent Document 3). In some implementations, the relay UE transmits a discovery message indicating the radio quality of the backhaul link (between the relay UE and the eNB) in order to assist the relay selection by the remote UE (see Non-Patent Document 4). . Alternatively, the relay UE may implicitly indicate the radio quality of the backhaul link to the remote UE in order to assist the relay selection by the remote UE. In order to implicitly indicate the radio quality of the backhaul link, for example, priority information in the discovery signal is used (see Non-Patent Document 5).

For example, Non-Patent Document 6 describes that both D2D link quality and backhaul link quality are considered in centralized relay selection. In one example, the remote UE reports the D2D link quality to the eNB, and the eNB selects a relay for the remote UE taking into account the reported D2D link quality and (reported) backhaul link quality. The backhaul link quality may be obtained by measurement by an eNB or measurement report by a relay UE in an existing cellular network.

For example, in

Non-Patent Documents

7 and 8, the eNB selects one or a plurality of relay UEs in consideration of the backhaul link quality. Only these relay candidate UEs can be discovered by the remote UE in the relay discovery procedure. The remote UE selects a relay from one or more relay candidates based on the D2D link quality. Since the backhaul link quality is taken into account when selecting relay candidates by the eNB, it is therefore also indirectly taken into account by the relay selection by the remote UE.

In this specification, a radio terminal having D2D communication capability and relay capability such as ProSe UE-to-Network Relay and ProSe UE-to-UE Relay is referred to as a "relay radio terminal" or "relay UE". A wireless terminal that receives a relay service by the relay UE is referred to as a “remote wireless terminal” or “remote UE”.

JP 2016-096489 A JP 2013-093781 A

The inventor has examined relay selection, found several problems including the problems specifically shown below, and devised some improvements to deal with these problems.

For example, Non-Patent Documents 3-8 describe that either or both of the D2D link quality and the backhaul link quality are considered in relay selection for the remote UE. Specifically, Non-Patent Document 3 shows downlink (DL) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and DL Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) as specific examples of backhaul link quality. Of DL 記載 RSRP or DL SINR is considered in relay selection. However, Non-Patent Documents 3-8 do not disclose that other indicators or parameters regarding the backhaul link between the eNB and the relay UE are considered for relay selection.

¡The relay UE with the best DLRPRSRP does not necessarily provide the best throughput to the remote UE. As an example, the system bandwidth (eg, 100 MHz) that can be used by another relay UE (second relay UE) than the system bandwidth (eg, 20 MHz) that can be used by the first relay UE having the best DL RSRP. If is larger, the second relay UE may be able to provide higher throughput to the remote UE than the first relay UE. Alternatively, the second relay UE and the base station than the Radio Access Technology (RAT) (eg, Long Term Evolution (LTE)) used between the first relay UE having the best DL RSRP and the base station RAT (eg, New Radio (NR), 5G RAT) used between the two relay UEs can provide higher throughput to the remote UE than the first relay UE. It may be.

In Patent Document 1, a relay UE receives a notification message (eg, Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) information) or a control message (eg, assignment information indicating D2D radio resources used in coverage) from a base station. Disclose on a D2D path to a remote UE. However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose that the remote UE uses the notification message and the control message from the base station for relay UE selection.

In Patent Document 2, a base station (anchor Access Point (AP)) reaches one terminal for communicating with a remote UE (terminal) via one or more relays (drift AP) to the terminal. The selection of a plurality of routes is disclosed. The indicator for route selection includes an indicator related to route quality. For example, the path quality indicator includes electric field strength, signal interference and noise ratio (SINR), carrier to interference and ationoiseCIratio (CINR), packet loss rate, number of hops, and the like in each radio section. Further, the path quality indicator may indicate the remaining power (or the amount of remaining radio resources) of radio resources of the relay (drift AP) or the remote UE (terminal) or both. Further, the path quality indicator may indicate the processing capability of the relay (drift AP) or the remote UE (terminal) or both. However, U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,086 only teaches centralized relay selection by the base station. Therefore, Patent Document 2 does not disclose that the relay UE sends some information used for distribution by the remote UE to the remote UE.

One of the objectives that the embodiments disclosed herein attempt to achieve is to provide an apparatus, method and program that contributes to increasing the appropriateness of relay selection. It should be noted that this object is only one of the objects that the embodiments disclosed herein intend to achieve. Other objects or problems and novel features will become apparent from the description of the present specification or the accompanying drawings.

In a first aspect, a wireless terminal includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor receives selection support information from each of one or more relay terminals, and based on the selection support information, at least one suitable for the wireless terminal from among the one or more relay terminals It is configured to select a specific relay terminal. Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station. The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal. The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station.

In a second aspect, the remote terminal includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to transmit selection assistance information to a remote terminal. Further, the at least one processor is configured to connect the remote terminal via a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and a base station. And the base station are configured to relay traffic. The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal. The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station.

In a third aspect, a method in a wireless terminal is configured to receive selection support information from each of one or a plurality of relay terminals, and based on the selection support information, select the wireless from the one or more relay terminals. Selecting at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the terminal. The selection support information is the same as that in the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a method in a relay terminal includes transmitting selection support information to a remote terminal, and a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal, and the relay terminal and the base Relaying traffic between the remote terminal and the base station via a backhaul link with the station. The selection support information is the same as that in the second mode.

In the fifth aspect, the program includes a group of instructions (software code) for causing the computer to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect described above when read by the computer.

According to the above-described aspect, it is possible to provide an apparatus, a method, and a program that contribute to increasing the appropriateness of relay selection.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless communication network which concerns on some embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless communication network which concerns on some embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless communication network which concerns on some embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the procedure for starting the relay which concerns on some embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the procedure for starting the relay which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the procedure for starting the relay which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the relay selection procedure which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless terminal which concerns on some embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the base station which concerns on some embodiment.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted as necessary for clarification of the description.

The plurality of embodiments described below can be implemented independently or in appropriate combinations. The plurality of embodiments have different novel features. Therefore, these multiple embodiments contribute to solving different purposes or problems and contribute to producing different effects.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a wireless communication network according to some embodiments including this embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 1 shows an example related to UE-to-Network Relay. That is, the remote UE 1 has at least one radio transceiver, and D2D communication (eg, ProSe direct discovery and ProSe direct communication) with one or more relay UEs 2 on the D2D link 102 (eg, PC5 interface or side link). Is configured to do. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the remote UE 1 is configured to perform cellular communication within the cellular coverage 31 provided by one or a plurality of base stations 3. The cellular coverage 31 includes one or more cells.

The relay UE2 has at least one wireless transceiver, performs cellular communication on the cellular link 101 with the base station 3 in the cellular coverage 31, and performs D2D communication with the remote UE1 on the D2D link 102 (eg, ProSe direct discovery). And ProSe direct communication).

The base station 3 is an entity arranged in a radio access network (ie, E-UTRAN), provides a cellular coverage 31 including one or more cells, and uses cellular communication technology (eg, E-UTRA technology). Can be used to communicate with the relay UE2 in the cellular link 101. Furthermore, the base station 3 is configured to perform cellular communication with the remote UE 1 when the remote UE 1 is in the cellular coverage 31.

Core network (ie Evolved Packet Core (EPC)) 4 consists of multiple user plane entities (eg, Serving Gateway (S-GW) and Packet Data Gateway Network (P-GW)), and multiple control plane entities (Eg, Mobility Management Management Entity (MME) and Home Subscriber Server (HSS)). The plurality of user plane entities relay user data of the remote UE 1 and the relay UE 2 between the radio access network including the base station 3 and the external network. The plurality of control plane entities perform various controls including mobility management, session management (bearer management), subscriber information management, and charging management of the remote UE1 and the relay UE2.

In some implementations, the remote UE 1 and the relay UE 2 are configured to communicate with the D2D controller 5 via the base station 3 and the core network 4 in order to use the proximity service (e.g., 3GPP ProSe). For example, in the case of 3GPP ProSe, the D2D controller 5 corresponds to a ProSe function entity. The remote UE1 and the relay UE2 may use, for example, network level discovery (eg, EPC-level ProSe Discovery) provided by the D2D controller 5, or D2D communication (eg, ProSe direct discovery and ProSe direct communication). ) May be received from the D2D controller 5 indicating that activation (activation) in the remote UE1 and the relay UE2 is permitted, or setting information related to D2D communication in the cellular coverage 31 may be received from the D2D controller 5. May be.

In the example of FIG. 1, the relay UE2 operates as a UE-to-Network Relay, and provides the relay operation between the remote UE1 and the cellular network (the base station 3 and the core network 4) to the remote UE1. In other words, the relay UE2 relays the data flow (traffic) related to the remote UE1 between the remote UE1 and the cellular network (base station 3 and core network 4). Thereby, remote UE1 can communicate with the node 7 in the external network 6 via relay UE2 and a cellular network (base station 3 and core network 4).

In the example of FIG. 1, the remote UE 1 is located outside the cellular coverage 31 (out-of-coverage). However, as already mentioned, the remote UE 1 may be located in the cellular coverage 31. In some implementations, if the remote UE1 cannot connect to the cellular network (base station 3 and core network 4) based on some condition (eg, selection by the user), D2D communication (eg, direct communication) with the relay UE2 ) May be performed. In some implementations, the remote UE 1 may further perform D2D communication with the relay UE 2 while performing cellular communication directly with the base station 3 within the coverage 31 of the base station 3. In some implementations, the remote UE 1 uses either direct cellular communication (referred to as a direct path) with the base station 3 or D2D communication (referred to as a relay path) with any relay UE 2. You may choose.

FIG. 2 shows another configuration example of the wireless communication network according to some embodiments. In the example of FIG. 2, the remote UE 1 is located in the cellular coverage 81 of the base station 8. The cellular coverage 81 includes one or more cells. The remote UE 1 is configured to perform cellular communication on the cellular link 201 with the base station 8. In some implementations, the remote UE1 can perform direct cellular communication (ie, direct path) with the base station 8 via the cellular link 201 and D2D communication (ie, direct relay) with any relay UE2 via the D2D link 102 (ie Or relay path) may be selected.

In the example of FIG. 2, the wireless communication network may have a HeterogeneouseNetwork (HetNet) structure. In one example, the base station 8 may be a macro base station, the base station 3 may be a pico base station, and the macro cell (ie, cellular coverage 81) of the base station 8 is the pico cell (ie , The cellular coverage 31) may be completely covered.

Additionally or alternatively, the base station 3 (or cellular coverage 31) and the base station 8 (or cellular coverage 81) may support different Radio Access Technologies (RAT). As shown in FIG. 2, the base station 8 may be an LTE eNodeB (eNB) that supports LTE RAT, and the base station 3 may be an NR NodeB (NR NB) that supports New Radio (NR). Good. 3GPP has started standardization work for the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G) for introduction after 2020. 5G is a combination of LTE and LTE-Advanced continuous enhancement / evolution and the introduction of a new 5G air interface (new Radio Access Technology (RAT)). It is assumed that The new RAT is, for example, a frequency band higher than the frequency band (eg, 6 GHz or less) targeted for the continuous development of LTE / LTE-Advanced, such as a centimeter wave band of 10 GHz or more and a millimeter band of 30 GHz or more. Support waveband. The fifth generation mobile communication system is also called Next Generation (NextGen) System (NG System). The new RAT for NG System is called New Radio (NR), 5G RAT, or NG RAT. The term “LTE” used in this specification includes improvements and developments of LTE and LTE-Advanced to enable interworking with the NG System unless otherwise specified. The improvement and development of LTE and LTE-Advanced for interworking with NG System is also referred to as LTE-Advanced Pro, LTE +, or enhanced LTE (eLTE).

In addition or alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the base station 3 and the base station 8 may be operated by different mobile operators. In the example of FIG. 3, the base station 3 and its cellular coverage 31 are operated by the operator A, and the base station 8 and its cellular coverage 81 are operated by the operator B. The relay UE2 can access the base station 3 using subscription credentials for the operator A. On the other hand, the remote UE 1 can access the base station 8 using subscription credentials for the operator B. Each entitlement information is stored in, for example, Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) of each of the remote UE1 and the relay UE2.

Subsequently, a procedure for starting a relay according to some embodiments including the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. In order to start a relay, at least one specific relay UE suitable for the remote UE1 is selected from among the discovered relay UE2 and the relay discovery for discovering the relay UE2 that can be used by the remote UE1. It is necessary to select a relay. Each relay UE2 before relay selection is performed can also be called a relay UE candidate or a relay candidate. As already explained, relay selection is performed by the remote UE 1 in some implementations (i.e., distributed relay selection).

FIG. 4 shows an example of a procedure (process 400) involving distributed relay selection. In step 401, the remote UE1 and the relay UE2 execute a relay discovery procedure for the remote UE1 to discover the relay UE2 as UE-to-Network Relay or UE-to-UE Relay. For example, according to a so-called announcement model (model A), the relay UE2 may transmit a discovery signal, and the remote UE1 may discover the relay UE2 by detecting the discovery signal from the relay UE2. Instead, according to a so-called solicitation / response model (model B), the remote UE1 transmits a discovery signal indicating that it wants to relay, and the relay UE2 transmits a response message to the discovery signal to the remote UE1. And the remote UE1 may discover the relay UE2 by receiving a response message from the relay UE2.

In step 402, the remote UE1 selects at least one specific relay UE2 appropriate from the one or more relays UE2 discovered in step 401. Details of the relay selection procedure according to this embodiment will be described later.

In step 403, the remote UE1 establishes a connection for one-to-one D2D communication (direct communication) with one of the selected at least one specific relay UE. For example, the remote UE1 may transmit a direct communication request (or relay request) to the relay UE2. The relay UE2 may start a procedure for mutual authentication in response to receiving the direct communication request (or relay request).

Subsequently, a specific example of the relay selection procedure according to this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example (process 500) of relay selection by the remote UE1. In step 501, each relay UE2 transmits selection support information (selection assistance information) to the remote UE1. The remote UE1 receives selection support information from each relay UE2. Each relay UE2 may transmit selection support information in a relay discovery procedure (e.g., step 401 in FIG. 4). Specifically, each relay UE2 may transmit a discovery signal including selection support information according to a so-called announcement model (model A). Thereby, remote UE1 can detect each relay UE2 by detecting a discovery signal, and can receive the selection assistance information of the said relay UE2.

The selection support information includes cell information. The cell information can also be referred to as base station information. Cell information (or base station information) is information transmitted from the base station 3 and received by each relay terminal 2. That is, each relay UE2 receives the cell information transmitted by the base station 3, and forwards the received cell information to the remote UE1. The cell information may be broadcast information that can be received by a plurality of UEs. In other words, the cell information may be broadcast in the cellular coverage 31 by the base station 3. For example, one of LTE logical channels, Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), may be used for transmitting cell information. Instead, the cell information may be transmitted to each relay UE 2 in individual signaling (e.g., “Radio” Resource “Control (RRC) signaling) between the base station 3 and each relay UE 2. A specific example of the cell information will be described later.

In Step 502, the remote UE1 performs relay selection using the selection support information received from each relay UE2. In the relay selection in step 502, the remote UE1 may select at least one specific relay UE for the remote UE1 from one or a plurality of relay UE2 (i.e., relay UE candidates). For example, the remote UE1 estimates the uplink quality of each relay UE2 using the selection support information received from each relay UE2, and performs relay selection in consideration of the estimated uplink quality of each relay UE2.

In addition or alternatively, in the relay selection in step 502, the remote UE 1 can use the relay path (eg, cellular link 101 and D2D link 102 in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3) and the direct path (eg, cellular link in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3). 201) to use for the remote UE1. Specifically, the remote UE1 may compare between the estimated throughput of one or more relay paths and the estimated throughput of the direct path and select the path corresponding to the best estimated throughput for the remote UE1.

In the example of FIG. 5, each relay UE2 must frequently transmit a radio signal (eg, discovery signal) to notify the remote UE1 of the selection support information, and thus the power consumption of each relay UE2 may increase. unknown. In order to reduce the transmission frequency of selection support information by each relay UE2, the relay selection procedure (process 600) shown in FIG. 6 may be employed. In Step 601, the remote UE1 transmits a radio signal including a transmission request for selection support information. In step 602, each relay UE2 transmits a radio signal including selection support information to the remote UE1 in response to receiving the transmission request.

Specifically, according to a so-called solicitation / response model (model B), the remote UE 1 transmits a discovery signal including a transmission request for selection support information, and each relay UE 2 includes selection support information. A response signal may be transmitted to the remote UE1. Thereby, remote UE1 can receive selection assistance information of the said relay UE2, while discovering each relay UE2 by detecting a response signal.

The processing in step 603 is the same as the processing in step 502 in FIG. That is, the remote UE1 performs relay selection in consideration of the selection support information received from each relay UE2.

Subsequently, a specific example of the cell information described above will be described below. The cell information can also be referred to as base station information. The cell information (or base station information) indicates the capability of the base station 3 or the capability of one or more cells provided by the base station 3. More specifically, the cell information may indicate at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station 3,
(B) System bandwidth supported by the base station 3;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station 3,
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station 3 to each relay terminal 2;
(E) the number of cells that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2,
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station 3 to each relay terminal 2;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station 3 and each relay terminal 2, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station 3 (or cellular coverage 31) .

Cell information (or base station information) is a frequency band supported by the base station 3, for example, decimeter wave (or Ultra High Frequency (UHF), centimeter wave (or Super Super high frequency (SHF)), millimeter wave (or Extremely high frequency (EHF) may be indicated.In some implementations, the frequency band supported by base station 3 is associated with the system bandwidth supported by base station 3, RAT, or both, thereby It may affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the station 3 and each relay UE 2. In other words, the frequency band supported by the base station 3 is one of the indices for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101. Available.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate the system bandwidth (e.g., 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz) supported by the base station 3. The system bandwidth supported by the base station 3 may affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE2. In other words, the system bandwidth supported by the base station 3 can be used as one of indexes for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate the downlink transmission power of the base station 3. In some implementations, the downlink transmission power of the base station 3 is associated with the size or cell type (eg, macrocell, microcell, picocell, femtocell) of the cellular coverage 31 of the base station 3, and further the cellular coverage 31 The size or cell type is associated with the system bandwidth. Therefore, in some implementations, the downlink transmission power of the base station 3 can affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE2. In other words, the downlink transmission power of the base station 3 can be used as one of indexes for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate an uplink / downlink (UL / DL) configuration of each cell that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2. The UL / DL configuration indicates the time ratio between uplink and downlink when the cellular link 101 uses Time division duplex (TDD). In one example, the UL / DL configuration may indicate any one of seven UL / DL configurations supported by TDD LTE. In the case of TDD LTE, a plurality of uplink subframes (UL subframes) and a plurality of downlink subframes (DL subframes) coexist in one radio frame. LTE-TDD UL / DL configuration means the arrangement of uplink subframes and downlink subframes in one radio frame. Therefore, in some implementations, the UL / DL configuration may affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE2. In other words, the UL / DL configuration of each cell provided by the base station 3 to each relay terminal 2 can be used as one of the indexes for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate the number of cells that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2. 3GPP Release 10 and later support carrier aggregation (Carrier Aggregation (CA)). In CA, relay UE2 is configured by a base station with a plurality of cells having different frequencies (called Component Carrier (CC)), and uses a plurality of component carriers for uplink communication and / or downlink communication. Can do. The plurality of CCs include one primary CC and one or more secondary CCs. The primary CC is also called a primary frequency and is a CC used for a primary cell (primary cell (PCell)). The secondary CC is also called a secondary frequency and is a CC used for a secondary cell (secondary cell (SCell)). That is, the relay UE 2 in which the CA is set by the base station 3 can simultaneously use a plurality of serving cells including one primary cell and at least one secondary cell. Thus, in some implementations, the number of cells that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2 can affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE2. In other words, the number of cells that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2 can be used as one of the indexes for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate one or more cell types (e.g., macro cell, micro cell, pico cell, femto cell) provided by the base station 3 to each relay terminal 2. In some implementations, the cell type is associated with the RAT or system bandwidth that the base station 3 supports. Thus, in some implementations, the type of one or more cells that the base station 3 provides to each relay terminal 2 affects the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE 2. obtain. In other words, the type of one or more cells provided by the base station 3 to each relay terminal 2 can be used as one of indices for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

Cell information (or base station information) is RAT or communication method used between the base station 3 and each relay terminal 2 (eg, Long Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, 5G, (Carrier aggregation, dual connectivity) may be indicated. In some implementations, the RAT (or communication scheme) supported by the base station 3 may affect the estimated throughput of the cellular link 101 between the base station 3 and each relay UE 2. In other words, the frequency band supported by the base station 3 can be used as one of indices for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

The cell information (or base station information) may indicate the name or identifier of the mobile operator that provides the base station 3 (or cellular coverage 31). In some implementations, different mobile operator networks support different system bandwidths or different RATs. Thus, in some implementations, the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing base station 3 (or cellular coverage 31) can affect the estimated throughput of cellular link 101 between base station 3 and each relay UE2. . In other words, the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station 3 (or cellular coverage 31) can be used as one of the indicators for evaluating the throughput of the cellular link 101.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a relay selection procedure (process 700) performed by the relay selection entity arranged in the remote UE1. In step 701, the remote UE1 (relay selection entity) receives selection support information from each relay UE2. As already described, the selection support information includes at least cell information (or base station information).

In step 702, the remote UE1 (relay selection entity) selects at least one specific relay UE2 suitable for the remote UE1 in consideration of the selection support information received from each relay UE2. For example, the remote UE1 may use the cell information received from each relay UE2 in order to estimate the uplink quality or downlink quality or both of the cellular link 101 of each relay UE2. The remote UE 1 may acquire, derive, or estimate the system bandwidth of the base station 3 from the cell information, and estimate the throughput of the cellular link 101 using the system bandwidth. And remote UE1 may select at least 1 relay UE2 with relatively high cellular link quality among 1 or some relay UE2 as specific relay UE2 for remote UE1. Additionally or alternatively, the remote UE1 may compare between the estimated throughput of one or more relay paths and the estimated throughput of the direct path and select the path corresponding to the best estimated throughput for the remote UE1. .

As understood from the above description, in this embodiment, each relay UE (candidate) 2 transmits selection support information including cell information to the remote UE 1, and the remote UE 1 considers the received selection support information. To select the relay. Here, the cell information (or base station information) indicates the capability of the base station 3 or the capability of one or more cells provided by the base station 3.

As already described, the relay UE2 having the best DL RSRP cannot always provide the best throughput to the remote UE1. As an example, the system bandwidth (eg, 100 MHz) that can be used by another relay UE (second relay UE) than the system bandwidth (eg, 20 MHz) that can be used by the first relay UE having the best DL RSRP. If is larger, the second relay UE may be able to provide higher throughput to the remote UE1 than the first relay UE. Alternatively, the RAT (eg, Long Term Evolution (LTE)) used between the first relay UE having the best DL RSRP and the base station 3 is between the second relay UE and the base station 3. If the RAT used (eg, NR, 5G RAT) supports higher speed communication, the second relay UE may be able to provide higher throughput to the remote UE1 than the first relay UE. Therefore, in some implementations, cell information indicating base station capability or cell capability (eg, system bandwidth, UL / DL configuration, RAT type) that can affect the throughput of the cellular link 101 for cell selection. You may consider it. This can contribute to increasing the appropriateness of relay selection based on throughput criteria.

<Second Embodiment>
In this embodiment, a modified example of the relay selection procedure described in the first embodiment will be described. The configuration example of the wireless communication network and the relay start procedure example according to the present embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, each relay UE2 transmits selection support information to the remote UE1. However, in this embodiment, the selection support information includes uplink quality information (i.e., second information element) in addition to the above-described cell information (i.e., first information element). The uplink quality information indicates the quality of uplink transmission from each relay UE2 to the base station 3.

The uplink quality information may indicate an estimated throughput of uplink transmission by the relay UE2. The estimated throughput may be calculated by each relay UE2 and sent from each relay UE2 to the remote UE1.

Alternatively, the uplink quality information may indicate the uplink SINR.

Alternatively, the uplink quality information may indicate the maximum transmission power of each relay UE2, the path loss between each relay UE2 and the base station 3, and the uplink radio resource per unit time allocated to each relay UE2. Good. The remote UE1 may estimate the uplink Modulation and Coding scheme (MCS) applied to each relay UE2 using the uplink quality information. Alternatively, the uplink quality information may indicate the uplink MCS itself applied to each relay UE2. The uplink throughput of each relay UE2 can be estimated from the uplink MCS applied to each relay UE2 and the uplink radio resource per unit time. Therefore, the uplink MCS applied to each relay UE2 is closely related to the uplink throughput of each relay UE2.

Alternatively, the uplink quality information may indicate power class information indicating the maximum transmission power of each relay UE2. LTE ProSe defines a high power UE with a maximum transmission power of 31 dBm or 33 dBm for public safety. A high output UE having a maximum transmission power of 31 dBm or 33 dBm is distinguished from a normal UE having a maximum transmission power of 23 dBm and a UE power class. Specifically, the UE power class of the high-power UE is “class 1”, and the high-power UE is also called a class 1 UE or a class 1 device. On the other hand, the UE power class of the normal UE is “class 3”, and the normal UE is also called a class 3 UE or a class 3 device. High power UEs can be expected to provide better uplink throughput than UEs with normal power (i.e., maximum transmission power 23 dBm).

Further or alternatively, the uplink quality information may indicate a UE category (or UE class) representing the uplink communication performance of each relay UE2. For example, the UE category may represent the (maximum) uplink data rate supported by each relay UE2. The UE category may represent communication parameters supported by each relay UE2, for example, a duplex mode, a modulation scheme, and a maximum number of Multiple-Input （Multiple-Output (MIMO) layers. It can be expected that relay UE2 having a higher UE category (that is, higher communication performance) can provide better uplink throughput.

In some implementations, the remote UE 1 may use selection assistance information including cell information and uplink quality information to calculate the uplink throughput of the relay path consisting of the cellular link 101 and the D2D link 102. For example, remote UE1 according to the following equation (1), may be calculated effective throughput R _k of the k-th relay UE2:

Here, the min function is a function that returns the minimum value of a plurality of arguments, U _k is an estimated value of the uplink throughput of the cellular link 101, and D _k is an estimated value of the throughput of the D2D link 102. .

The throughput estimates U _k and D _k may be calculated according to a Shannon capacity formula. For example, U _k is defined by the following equation (2):

Where R _U is the resource ratio for uplink transmission within the D2D control period, and TBS _U (n _U , m _U ) is the uplink MCS index equal to n _U and the number of uplink resource blocks There is an uplink transport block size when equal to m _U. Further, BLER (n _U , SINR _{U, k} ) is a block error rate when the uplink MCS index is equal to n _U and the uplink SINR is equal to SINR _{U, k} . Note that the D2D control period is also referred to as a side link control period or a PSCCH period. In LTE, side link transmission uses a subset of uplink resources in the frequency and time domain, and the base station schedules radio resources for D2D communication in the time and frequency direction every D2D control period (eg, 40ms). To do.

D _k is defined by the following equation (3):

Here, R _D is the resource ratio for D2D transmission within the D2D control period, and TBS _D (n _D , m _D ) is the MCS index of D2D transmission equal to n _D and the number of D2D resource blocks is m D2D transport block size when equal to _D. Further, BLER (n _D , SINR _{D, k} ) is a block error rate when the MCS index of D2D transmission is equal to n _D and the SINR of the D2D link is equal to SINR _{D, k} .

The combination of n _U and m _U used in equation (2) is obtained by the following equation (4):

Here, the arg max operator refers to a combination of an uplink MCS index n and an uplink resource block number m that maximizes the function indicated by the argument.

In the examples shown in the equations (1) to (4), the number of uplink resource blocks (m _U ) is a function of the system bandwidth supported by the base station 3. In other words, the uplink resource block count m _U increases according to the system bandwidth of the base station 3. As already described in the first embodiment, the remote UE 1 may receive cell information (or base station information) indicating the system bandwidth supported by the base station 3 from each relay UE 2. On the other hand, in the examples shown in equations (1) to (4), uplink SINR (SINR _{U, k} ) is an example of uplink quality information.

That is, the remote UE1 estimates the uplink throughput of the relay UE2 with higher accuracy by using the cell information (eg, system bandwidth) and the uplink quality information (eg, uplink SINR) received from the relay UE2. can do.

<Third Embodiment>
In this embodiment, a modified example of the relay selection procedure described in the first and second embodiments will be described. The configuration example of the wireless communication network and the relay start procedure example according to the present embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, each relay UE2 transmits selection support information to the remote UE1, as in the first or second embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the selection support information further includes base station load information (i.e., third information element). The base station load information indicates the load of the base station 3. The base station load information may be the uplink radio resource usage rate, the computing resource usage rate of the base station 3, or the number of UEs connected to the base station 3, or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the base station load information may include the occupancy level of the downlink transmission buffer (queue) of the base station 3, the occupancy level of the uplink reception buffer of the base station 3, or other packets related to DL transmission or UL reception. The occupation level of the buffer may be indicated.

In some implementations, the remote UE1 may use the base station load information in order to more accurately estimate the effective throughput R _k of each relay UE2. For example, in the calculation of the effective throughput R _k described in the second embodiment, the constraint condition shown in the following equation (5) may be imposed on the variable m in the equation (4).

Here, M _U is the maximum number of resource blocks determined by the system bandwidth of the base station 3, L _U is the load of the base station 3. The load L _U is 0 or more and 1 or less. The load L _U may be an uplink radio resource usage rate.

In some implementations, the remote UE 1 may use the base station load information to evaluate whether transmission that satisfies the delay requirement is possible. The delay requirement may be a maximum delay or an average delay. The delay here may be, for example, a delay time until the transmission data of the remote UE 1 reaches the destination node (e.g., node 7 in FIG. 1) via the relay UE 2 and the base station 3.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In this embodiment, a modified example of the relay selection procedure described in the first to third embodiments will be described. The configuration example of the wireless communication network and the relay start procedure example according to the present embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, as in the first, second, or third embodiment, each relay UE2 transmits selection support information to the remote UE1. However, in the present embodiment, the selection support information indicates relay load information. The relay load information may indicate the number of other remote UEs connected to or communicating with each relay UE2. Additionally or alternatively, the relay load information may include D2D radio resource usage, relay UE2 uplink transmission buffer occupancy level, relay UE2 downlink reception buffer (queue) occupancy level, or UL transmission or DL reception. Other packet buffer occupancy levels may be indicated.

As the number of remote UEs connected to one relay UE2 (or communicating with each relay UE2) increases, the effective throughput that the relay UE2 can provide to each remote UE is considered to decrease. Accordingly, the remote UE 1 may preferentially select the remote UE 1 for the relay UE 2 having a smaller number of connected or communicating remote UEs. Thereby, remote UE1 can select relay UE2 which can provide higher effective throughput to new remote UE1 for the said remote UE1.

In some implementations, the remote UE1 may use relay load information in order to more accurately estimate the effective throughput R _k of each relay UE2. For example, in the calculation of the effective throughput R _k described in the second embodiment, the following equation (6) may be used instead of the equation (3):

Here, N _UE is the number of other remote UEs connected or communicating with the kth relay UE2.

In some implementations, the remote UE 1 can perform relay load in addition to the base station load information described in the third embodiment in order to more accurately evaluate whether transmission satisfying the delay requirement is possible. Information may also be used.

<Fifth Embodiment>
In this embodiment, a modification of the relay selection procedure described in the first to fourth embodiments will be described. The configuration example of the wireless communication network and the relay start procedure example according to the present embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, each relay UE2 transmits selection support information to the remote UE1, as in the first, second, third, or fourth embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, the selection support information further indicates a path loss between each relay UE 2 and the base station 3. The side link transmission power of the 3GPP relay UE is controlled according to the path loss between the base station 3 and the relay UE2. As the path loss increases, the side link transmission power of the relay UE2 increases.

Therefore, the remote UE 1 may use the path loss between each relay UE 2 and the base station 3 in order to estimate the side link transmission power of each relay UE 2. In other words, the remote UE 1 may use a path loss between each relay UE 2 and the base station 3 in order to estimate (maximum) transmission power required for side link transmission to each relay UE 2. For example, the remote UE1 may preferentially select the relay UE2 having the minimum required side link transmission power for the remote UE1. Instead, the remote UE 1 compares the side link transmission power (or power consumption required for side link transmission) in the relay path with the uplink transmission power (or power consumption required for uplink transmission) in the direct path, A path that results in low transmission power (or power consumption) may be selected.

Finally, configuration examples of the remote UE 1, the relay UE 2, and the base station 3 according to the above-described plurality of embodiments will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the remote UE 1. The relay UE2 may also have the same configuration as that shown in FIG. The Radio-Frequency (RF) transceiver 801 performs analog RF signal processing to communicate with the base station 3. Analog RF signal processing performed by the RF transceiver 801 includes frequency up-conversion, frequency down-conversion, and amplification. RF transceiver 801 is coupled with antenna 802 and baseband processor 803. That is, the RF transceiver 801 receives modulation symbol data (or OFDM symbol data) from the baseband processor 803, generates a transmission RF signal, and supplies the transmission RF signal to the antenna 802. Further, the RF transceiver 801 generates a baseband received signal based on the received RF signal received by the antenna 802 and supplies this to the baseband processor 803.

The baseband processor 803 performs digital baseband signal processing (data plane processing) and control plane processing for wireless communication. Digital baseband signal processing consists of (a) data compression / decompression, (b) data segmentation / concatenation, (c) 生成 transmission format (transmission frame) generation / decomposition, and (d) transmission path encoding / decoding. , (E) modulation (symbol mapping) / demodulation, and (f) generation of OFDM symbol data (baseband OFDM signal) by Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT). On the other hand, control plane processing includes layer 1 (eg, transmission power control), layer 2 (eg, radio resource management, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing), and layer 3 (eg, attach, mobility, and call management). Communication management).

For example, in the case of LTE and LTE-Advanced, the digital baseband signal processing by the baseband processor 803 includes signal processing of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. But you can. The control plane processing by the baseband processor 803 may include Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol, RRC protocol, and MAC CE processing.

The baseband processor 803 includes a modem processor (eg, Digital Signal Processor (DSP)) that performs digital baseband signal processing and a protocol stack processor (eg, Central Processing Unit (CPU), or Micro Processing Unit that performs control plane processing. (MPU)). In this case, a protocol stack processor that performs control plane processing may be shared with an application processor 804 described later.

Application processor 804 is also referred to as a CPU, MPU, microprocessor, or processor core. The application processor 804 may include a plurality of processors (a plurality of processor cores). The application processor 804 is a system software program (Operating System (OS)) read from the memory 806 or a memory (not shown) and various application programs (for example, call application, web browser, mailer, camera operation application, music playback) By executing the application, various functions of the remote UE 1 are realized.

In some implementations, the baseband processor 803 and the application processor 804 may be integrated on a single chip, as shown by the dashed line (805) in FIG. In other words, the baseband processor 803 and the application processor 804 may be implemented as one System on Chip (SoC) device 805. An SoC device is sometimes called a system Large Scale Integration (LSI) or chipset.

The memory 806 is a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or a combination thereof. The memory 806 may include a plurality of physically independent memory devices. The volatile memory is, for example, Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), or a combination thereof. The non-volatile memory is a mask Read Only Memory (MROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, hard disk drive, or any combination thereof. For example, the memory 806 may include an external memory device accessible from the baseband processor 803, the application processor 804, and the SoC 805. Memory 806 may include an embedded memory device integrated within baseband processor 803, application processor 804, or SoC 805. Further, the memory 806 may include a memory in a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC).

The memory 806 may store a software module (computer program) including an instruction group and data for performing processing by the remote UE 1 described in the plurality of embodiments described above. In some implementations, the baseband processor 803 or the application processor 804 reads the software module from the memory 806 and executes the software module, thereby performing the processing of the remote UE 1 described using the sequence diagram and the flowchart in the above-described embodiment. It may be configured to do.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the base station 3 according to the above-described embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, the base station 3 includes an RF transceiver 901, a network interface 903, a processor 904, and a memory 905. The RF transceiver 901 performs analog RF signal processing to communicate with the remote UE1 and the relay UE2. The RF transceiver 901 may include multiple transceivers. RF transceiver 901 is coupled with antenna 902 and processor 904. The RF transceiver 901 receives modulation symbol data (or OFDM symbol data) from the processor 904, generates a transmission RF signal, and supplies the transmission RF signal to the antenna 902. Further, the RF transceiver 901 generates a baseband received signal based on the received RF signal received by the antenna 902 and supplies this to the processor 904.

The network interface 903 is used to communicate with network nodes (e.g., Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Serving Gateway (S-GW)). The network interface 903 may include, for example, a network interface card (NIC) compliant with IEEE 802.3 series.

The processor 904 performs digital baseband signal processing (data plane processing) and control plane processing for wireless communication. For example, for LTE and LTE-Advanced, the digital baseband signal processing by the processor 904 may include PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer signal processing. Further, the control plane processing by the processor 904 may include S1 protocol, RRC protocol, and MAC-CE processing.

The processor 904 may include a plurality of processors. For example, the processor 904 may include a modem processor (e.g., DSP) that performs digital baseband signal processing and a protocol stack processor (e.g., CPU or MPU) that performs control plane processing.

The memory 905 is configured by a combination of a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory. The volatile memory is, for example, SRAM or DRAM or a combination thereof. The non-volatile memory is, for example, an MROM, PROM, flash memory, hard disk drive, or a combination thereof. Memory 905 may include storage located remotely from processor 904. In this case, the processor 904 may access the memory 905 via the network interface 903 or an I / O interface not shown.

The memory 905 may store a software module (computer program) including an instruction group and data for performing processing by the base station 3 described in the plurality of embodiments. In some implementations, the processor 904 is configured to read and execute the software module from the memory 905 to perform the processing of the base station 3 described using the sequence diagram and the flowchart in the above-described embodiment. Also good.

As described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the processors included in the remote UE 1, the relay UE 2, and the base station 3 according to the above-described embodiment causes the computer to execute the algorithm described with reference to the drawings. One or a plurality of programs including the instruction group is executed. The program can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media (tangible storage medium). Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media are magnetic recording media (eg flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (eg magneto-optical discs), Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), CD-ROM R, CD-R / W, semiconductor memory (for example, mask ROM, Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), flash ROM, Random Access Memory (RAM)). The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of temporary computer-readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

<Other embodiments>
The above-described embodiments may be implemented independently or may be implemented in combination as appropriate.

Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are merely examples relating to application of the technical idea obtained by the present inventors. That is, the technical idea is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made.

For example, a part or all of the above embodiment can be described as in the following supplementary notes, but is not limited thereto.

(Appendix 1)
A wireless terminal,
Memory,
At least one processor coupled to the memory;
With
The at least one processor receives selection support information from each of one or more relay terminals, and based on the selection support information, at least one suitable for the wireless terminal from among the one or more relay terminals Configured to select a specific relay terminal,
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Wireless terminal.

(Appendix 2)
The first information element indicates at least a system bandwidth supported by the base station;
The wireless terminal according to attachment 1.

(Appendix 3)
The first information element indicates at least an uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to a relay UE,
The wireless terminal according to

appendix

1 or 2.

(Appendix 4)
The selection support information further includes a second information element indicating the quality of uplink transmission from each relay terminal to the base station,
The wireless terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 3.

(Appendix 5)
The second information element includes power class information representing the maximum transmission power of each relay terminal or terminal category information representing both uplink communication performance of each relay terminal, or both.
The wireless terminal according to appendix 4.

(Appendix 6)
The second information element includes an estimation value of Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) applied to the uplink transmission of each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to appendix 4 or 5.

(Appendix 7)
The selection support information further includes a third information element indicating a load of the base station,
The wireless terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 6.

(Appendix 8)
The selection support information further includes a fourth information element indicating a load of each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 7.

(Appendix 9)
The fourth information element indicates the number of other remote terminals connected or communicating with each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to attachment 8.

(Appendix 10)
The at least one processor is configured to preferentially select the at least one specific relay terminal for a relay terminal having a smaller number of the other remote terminals.
The wireless terminal according to appendix 9.

(Appendix 11)
The selection support information further includes a fifth information element indicating a path loss between the base station and each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 10.

(Appendix 12)
The at least one processor is configured to perform either a relay path via the one or more relay terminals or a direct radio link between the radio terminal and the base station or another base station. Configured to determine what to use for communication,
The wireless terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 11.

(Appendix 13)
A relay terminal,
Memory,
At least one processor coupled to the memory;
With
The at least one processor comprises:
Via a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and a base station. And configured to relay traffic between the remote terminal and the base station,
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Relay terminal.

(Appendix 14)
The selection support information causes the remote terminal to select at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the remote terminal from among one or more relay terminals.
The relay terminal according to attachment 13.

(Appendix 15)
The selection support information includes either a relay route through one or a plurality of relay terminals and a direct wireless link between the remote terminal and the base station or another base station. Causing the remote terminal to decide which to use for
15. The relay terminal according to appendix 13 or 14.

(Appendix 16)
The first information element indicates at least a system bandwidth supported by the base station;
The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 15.

(Appendix 17)
The first information element indicates at least an uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to a relay UE,
The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 16.

(Appendix 18)
The selection support information further includes a second information element indicating the quality of uplink transmission from the relay terminal to the base station,
18. The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 17.

(Appendix 19)
The second information element includes power class information representing the maximum transmission power of the relay terminal or terminal category information representing both uplink communication performance of each relay terminal, or both.
The relay terminal according to appendix 18.

(Appendix 20)
The second information element includes an estimation value of Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) applied to the uplink transmission of each relay terminal.
The relay terminal according to appendix 18 or 19.

(Appendix 21)
The selection support information further includes a third information element indicating a load of the base station,
The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 20.

(Appendix 22)
The selection support information further includes a fourth information element indicating a load of the relay terminal.
The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 21.

(Appendix 23)
The fourth information element indicates the number of other remote terminals connected or communicating with the relay terminal;
The relay terminal according to attachment 22.

(Appendix 24)
The selection support information further includes a fifth information element indicating a path loss between the base station and the relay terminal.
24. The relay terminal according to any one of appendices 13 to 23.

(Appendix 25)
A method in a wireless terminal,
Receiving selection support information from each of the one or more relay terminals, and, based on the selection support information, selecting at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the wireless terminal from the one or more relay terminals. To choose,
With
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Configured to relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Method.

(Appendix 26)
A method in a relay terminal,
Transmitting selection assistance information to a remote terminal, and via a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and a base station, Relaying traffic between the remote terminal and the base station;
With
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Method.

(Appendix 27)
A program for causing a computer to perform a method in a wireless terminal,
The method
Receiving selection support information from each of the one or more relay terminals, and, based on the selection support information, selecting at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the wireless terminal from the one or more relay terminals. To choose,
With
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Configured to relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
program.

(Appendix 28)
A program for causing a computer to perform a method in a relay terminal,
The relay terminal includes a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and a remote terminal, and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and the base station. Configured to relay traffic between
The method comprises transmitting selection support information to the remote terminal;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
program.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-238509 filed on Dec. 8, 2016, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

1 Remote UE
2 Relay UE
3 base station 4 core network 5 device-to-device (D2D) controller 6 external network 7 node 8 base station 101 cellular link 102 D2D link 201 cellular link 801 radio frequency (RF) transceiver 803 baseband processor 804 application processor 806 memory 904 Processor 905 memory

Claims

A wireless terminal,
Memory,
At least one processor coupled to the memory;
With
The at least one processor receives selection support information from each of one or more relay terminals, and based on the selection support information, at least one suitable for the wireless terminal from among the one or more relay terminals Configured to select a specific relay terminal,
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Wireless terminal.
The first information element indicates at least a system bandwidth supported by the base station;
The wireless terminal according to claim 1.
The first information element indicates at least an uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to a relay UE,
The wireless terminal according to claim 1 or 2.
The selection support information further includes a second information element indicating the quality of uplink transmission from each relay terminal to the base station,
The wireless terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The second information element includes power class information representing the maximum transmission power of each relay terminal or terminal category information representing both uplink communication performance of each relay terminal, or both.
The wireless terminal according to claim 4.
The second information element includes an estimation value of Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) applied to the uplink transmission of each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to claim 4 or 5.
The selection support information further includes a third information element indicating a load of the base station,
The wireless terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The selection support information further includes a fourth information element indicating a load of each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The fourth information element indicates the number of other remote terminals connected or communicating with each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to claim 8.
The at least one processor is configured to preferentially select the at least one specific relay terminal for a relay terminal having a smaller number of the other remote terminals.
The wireless terminal according to claim 9.
The selection support information further includes a fifth information element indicating a path loss between the base station and each relay terminal.
The wireless terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
The at least one processor is configured to perform either a relay path via the one or more relay terminals or a direct radio link between the radio terminal and the base station or another base station. Configured to determine what to use for communication,
The wireless terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
A relay terminal,
Memory,
At least one processor coupled to the memory;
With
The at least one processor comprises:
Via a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and a base station. And configured to relay traffic between the remote terminal and the base station,
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Relay terminal.
The selection support information causes the remote terminal to select at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the remote terminal from among one or more relay terminals.
The relay terminal according to claim 13.
The selection support information includes either a relay route through one or a plurality of relay terminals and a direct wireless link between the remote terminal and the base station or another base station. Causing the remote terminal to decide which to use for
The relay terminal according to claim 13 or 14.
The first information element indicates at least a system bandwidth supported by the base station;
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 15.
The first information element indicates at least an uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to a relay UE,
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 16.
The selection support information further includes a second information element indicating the quality of uplink transmission from the relay terminal to the base station,
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 17.
The second information element includes power class information representing the maximum transmission power of the relay terminal or terminal category information representing both uplink communication performance of each relay terminal, or both.
The relay terminal according to claim 18.
The second information element includes an estimation value of Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) applied to the uplink transmission of each relay terminal.
The relay terminal according to claim 18 or 19.
The selection support information further includes a third information element indicating a load of the base station,
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 20.
The selection support information further includes a fourth information element indicating a load of the relay terminal.
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 21.
The fourth information element indicates the number of other remote terminals connected or communicating with the relay terminal;
The relay terminal according to claim 22.
The selection support information further includes a fifth information element indicating a path loss between the base station and the relay terminal.
The relay terminal according to any one of claims 13 to 23.
A method in a wireless terminal,
Receiving selection support information from each of the one or more relay terminals, and, based on the selection support information, selecting at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the wireless terminal from the one or more relay terminals. To choose,
With
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Configured to relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Method.
A method in a relay terminal,
Transmitting selection assistance information to a remote terminal, and via a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and the remote terminal and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and a base station, Relaying traffic between the remote terminal and the base station;
With
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
Method.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform a method in a wireless terminal,
The method
Receiving selection support information from each of the one or more relay terminals, and, based on the selection support information, selecting at least one specific relay terminal suitable for the wireless terminal from the one or more relay terminals. To choose,
With
Each specific relay terminal is a device-to-device (D2D) link between each specific relay terminal and the wireless terminal and a backhaul link between each specific relay terminal and the base station, Configured to relay traffic between a wireless terminal and the base station;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by each relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to each relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to each relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication method used between the base station and each relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
A non-transitory computer readable medium.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform a method in a relay terminal,
The relay terminal includes a device-to-device (D2D) link between the relay terminal and a remote terminal, and a backhaul link between the relay terminal and the base station. Configured to relay traffic between
The method comprises transmitting selection support information to the remote terminal;
The selection support information includes a first information element transmitted from the base station and received by the relay terminal,
The first information element indicates at least one of the following:
(A) a frequency band supported by the base station;
(B) system bandwidth supported by the base station;
(C) the downlink transmission power of the base station;
(D) Uplink / downlink configuration of each cell provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(E) the number of cells that the base station provides to the relay terminal;
(F) one or more cell types provided by the base station to the relay terminal;
(G) Radio Access Technology (RAT) or communication scheme used between the base station and the relay terminal, and (h) the name or identifier of the mobile operator providing the base station,
A non-transitory computer readable medium.